Saturday, April 25, 2015

Scientific American - Terrorism as Self-Help Justice

The current issue of Scientific American's Skeptic column by Michael Shermer is titled Terrorism as Self-Help Justice -The moralistic motivations of ISIS. (not currently available online without a subscription)

Shermer makes the point that only 10% of homicides are predatory in nature - murders that occur during a crime such as burglary - whereas the other 90% are people taking the law into their own hands. Why do they take the law into their own hands? Because they believe that the state's judicial system is biased against them or they live in states with corrupt legal systems. Shermer makes the point that taking the law into your own hands is quite rational when the judiciary system itself is unjust. The best way to stop people from taking the law into their own hands is an effective, just and unbiased judicial system. No amount of law enforcement can overcome this. This may be obvious to people when we look at countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan but it is true in the United States as well. How many young black men believe that if a police officer commits a crime against them the matter will be resolved fairly by the court system?I am a victim of criminal misconduct by a lawyer but despiteoverwhelmingevidence, neither the Court, the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, law enforcement or the County Attorney will do anything about it because this type of corruption is common and tolerated.The very reason this site exists is to move the legal system, particularly the divorce system, in the direction of justice. We can choose to become a more just country or a less just country. Which path do you choose?